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29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Normal in Hollywood?, October 24, 2002
Patricia Heaton and I were born 8 days apart, in different Ohio cities. We both grew up in loving families, and attended parochial schools. That's where the similarities seem to end. Patricia has four young sons, I have one neurotic dog. She is a famous TV star, and I'm, well, not. But the overwhelming feeling I had after reading this book was, "I would love to have lunch with her sometime." Take for example a marital conversation Patricia recounts. She read in a book that, "instead of fighting . . .couples should say the word 'tone' when they feel they are being unfairly accosted verbally." Patricia and her husband, "tried that once without much success. It began with me nicely asking him to take out the garbage and him saying 'Tone.' So I toned his tone. He toned my toning of his tone. Our marriage counselor told us we were both tone deaf. My husband thought Tone Def would be a cool name for a rap group or a record label." Not only did I laugh out loud, I turned to my husband and informed him that someone has been listening in on our conversations. You will undoubtedly have a similar deja vu experience as you read this book if you are married or have children, if you were once a child, if you ever worked at a survival job, or if you are now a fabulously successful TV star. Buy Patricia Heaton's book, pour a tall glass of your favorite beverage, curl up on the sofa and treat yourself to a funny, insightful, real and touching read. You won't regret it.
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally - something REAL out of Hollywood!, October 2, 2002
Whether you live in Hollywood or Iowa, whether you are a mother yourself or simply live vicariously (as do I) through 19 nieces & nephews as well as dozens of children belonging to friends, no matter what profession you find yourself in, you are GUARANTEED to identify with the words of Patricia Heaton! She speaks as one who as lived "in the trenches". Plain-spoken, self-deprecating, and just as witty when writing her own words as acting those onstage from a script, this book is simply fun. It gives you that warm, familiar feeling that makes you finish the last page and immediately want more. I already admired her, but my respect for her willingness to share all the gritty, true, not-so-pretty details that are everyday life make me respect her immeasurably. This one has definite laugh-out-loud, earn-stares-from-others-on-the-bus passages. In another time, I believe Patricia Heaton would have been the one to gladly announce that the emperor not only has no clothes, but is an idiot! Bravo!!
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18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Now Everybody can Love Patty, October 3, 2002
The Emmy-Award-winning actress who portrays the beleaguered Debra Barone on _Everybody Loves Raymond_ has written her autobiography to prove to us that, unlike her TV counterpart, Patricia Heaton has real friends and relatives who *do* love and support her. The title of the book is a bit misleading, though. While she talks about being a wife and mother and raising her four boys, and she describes her road toward becoming a successful actress, often the monologue returns to memories of her childhood. Growing up Catholic in a western suburb of Cleveland, she went on to major in drama at Ohio State and then (of course) went off to The Big Apple to make it big. There she subletted apartment after apartment and worked as a waitress, modelled shoes and wrote copy while trying to get auditions. We follow her path (almost predictably) to Los Angeles and her eventual arrival on the _Raymond_ series. She writes the way she talks, and some of the childhood stories are laugh-out-loud funny. One of the most amusing scenes comes when the Heaton family hosts "a Negro couple" for dinner on the very same night in 1966 that the Beatles appear on _The Ed Sullivan Show_. Those of us who grew up in the 1960s -- when entire neighborhoods were our playgrounds -- have similar moments tucked away in our heads. If we could join in her conversation here, we'd soon be swapping stories and having a merry old time ourselves. Ms. Heaton tells a few tales on herself: she wet the bed until the age of ten, lost her mother to a brain aneurism when she was twelve, had plastic surgery several times. And there's a lot she keeps to herself, too. A first marriage is mentioned in passing, a few drug references are thrown in here and there. And she tells no tales on her series co-stars, except when she talks about the cast's trip to NYC on September 10, 2001, in order to promote the new season. The actress already had a commendable perspective on the entertainment business and her own success by that time. What she lived through that week helped to reinforce it as well as her commitment to her family. This book is a quick read that's not a "tell-all" but is definitely a "told enough."
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